How to Get Started with Apartment Building Investing

Hey everyone! In this article and Youtube video, I want to talk about what steps a newbie investor can take in the next three to six months to get started with apartment building investing.

While the task can seem overwhelming, there are some well-defined and easy-to-do things you start doing today. Do a little bit each day, and after a while, you’ll be amazed at what you’ve accomplished!

Step # 1: Read free stuff. Start of course here, with the BiggerPockets.com. In fact, if you search the article archives, podcasts and forums, chances are it’ll keep you busy for weeks and you’ll never need to go anywhere else.

Step # 2: Buy a book. Go to Amazon and Google “apartment building investing” or something similar. There are several good books on the subject that will give you a good overview of what apartment building investing entails.

Step # 3: Network with other investors. Attend your local Real Estate Investor Club meeting. Soak it all in, and after a few visits, you’ll figure out who the commercial real estate investors are. Take them out to lunch and pick their brain.

Step # 4: Attend a Seminar. Once you’ve made up your mind that you want to get into apartment building investing, it may be time for you to invest in a seminar or course. A good seminar (even one that may be more expensive) will help you avoid some of the more basic and major mistakes and will speed up the learning curve.

Step # 5. Create a Sample Deal Package. Search for deals on loopnet.com and request the marketing package for one of the deals. Create a Deal Package with information about the property, photos, your business plan, actual financials, and projected financials and returns. This is useful in several ways: (1) it helps make the whole thing more real to you and (2) you can use it when speaking to potential investors, brokers, and lenders to give you credibility.

Step # 6: Practice analyzing deals! Buy or create a deal analyzer spreadsheet to answer the question “what is the most I can pay for this deal?” The more you analyze, the more confident you’ll get.

Step # 7: Tour a Property. Call a broker, request the marketing package, analyze the deal, and arrange a visit of the property.

Step # 8: Make an Offer (yikes!). Submit a Letter of Intent and hold your breath! The worst that could happen is that it gets rejected. Submit another one. If for some reason your offer is accepted, don’t worry, it’s not legally binding so you can always withdraw it.

That’s it for my 8 steps to getting started with apartment building investing!

Here’s two Tips to GETTING STUFF DONE.

Tip # 1: Do the Next 3 Things

While all of these tasks put together can seem overwhelming, here’s my last tip: don’t look at all of the things on this list. Just ignore them for now. Just think about the next three things you should do.

That’s it, just three.

Focus on those three things and knock ’em out.

When you’re done with those three things, write down and tackle the NEXT three things.

If you keep this up for 3 months and look up, you’ll be amazed at what you’ve accomplished.

So don’t be discouraged by the complexity of it all, just write down the next three things you know you should do, and do them!

Tip # 2: You don’t need to have it all figured out, JUST DO IT.

I love this quote from Richard Branson:

“If someone offers you an amazing opportunity and you’re not sure you can do it, say yes – then learn how to do it later”.

In other words, don’t feel like you need to read every book, attend every seminar, and now ahead of time how to do everything. Know just enough to be dangerous, then go out and do it!

The Secret to Raising Money To Buy Your First Apartment BuildingHow to get Commitments from Potential Investors so that you can Confidently Make Offers and Close on Your Deals (29-page PDF)Download Free eBook Now